Lottery grant for offenders

YOUNG offenders in Sheffield and Rotherham will be given help to turn their lives around while they are serving sentences in young offender institutions - thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery Fund.

The ‘Inside Out’ project, which also works with young offenders in Nottinghamshire, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, has been awarded £880,297 to help people find homes and enrol on training and education programmes to try to prevent them from re-offending.

The project, led by Chesterfield-based charity Endeavour Training Limited, offers group and individual sessions to offenders while they are locked up to identify issues needing to be addressed before they are released.

It concentrates on helping to give the youngsters the best chance of finding employment.

Mick McGrath, of the Big Lottery Fund, said: “We are proud to be announcing this multi-million pound investment today to help fill the gap in support for some of the region’s most vulnerable young people, many of whom without effective support, are likely to fail before they’ve even begun.

“This funding will go a long way to help address this situation and make a huge difference to their lives, to create new positive futures and provide them with the opportunities to succeed.”

The grant was announced as part of a £2.8 million package for the region “to help create more positive futures for young people leaving young offender institutions or leaving care”.

Projects benefiting from the cash provide practical support, education and work placements.